I am an artist creating a small Euglena piece, and I am seeking to make it as accurate as possible within the limitations of my process. I've done a fair amount of research, but the diagrams available online often lack detail, and sometimes contradict one another... and so I am here in the hope of getting advice on my composition (images attached).

My Euglena will be made in two halves, hinged at the posterior end, and it will open up to show its internal structure. Here are some of my questions:

1) I am not sure exactly which euglenid I am trying to represent. I know that the form of the paramylon bodies varies depending on species. I want to say E. spirogyra because I like the name, but I think I will need to add a pointy bit at the posterior, and perhaps bumps along the pellicle ridges. Thoughts appreciated.

2) Most diagrams do not show the ER or Golgi body. Any thoughts on my representaintion of these? The whole piece will be about 30mm long when closed, so things such as ribosomes may be tough to show.

3) Any thoughts on my representation of the flagella and photoreceptor? Some diagrams show the short flagellum emerging slightly from the cell, and some show otherwise...

4) are there other structures I could include (Basal Bodies, etc)? I am particularly interested in things that might be unique to euglenids.

5) Any other comments on the size and placement of the various organelles/structures?

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thanks for the helpful images posted in this forum!

When Euglena is live (in water mount, not stained) under light microscope, I doubt you can easily see ER, Golgi or mitochondria. So some diagrams representing a live view under scope may not show those.

One would have to (kill, fix and) stain for those cellular structures to see them more clearly.

I would include those structures. If you want to be really accurate in terms of size and amount, you would need to deduce from research papers showing those stained cellular structures. Diaphragms are usually not accurate.

Thanks for your reply! Something I should add to my original post is that I do, in fact, want this piece to be somewhat diagramatic... so some measure of simplification and exaggeration is desirable.

zzffnn wrote:

Welcome to the forum!

When Euglena is live (in water mount, not stained) under light microscope, I doubt you can easily see ER, Golgi or mitochondria. So some diagrams representing a live view under scope may not show those.

One would have to (kill, fix and) stain for those cellular structures to see them more clearly.

I would include those structures. If you want to be really accurate in terms of size and amount, you would need to deduce from research papers showing those stained cellular structures. Diaphragms are usually not accurate.

Interesting. If you do a Google image searches, you can find a range of micrographs for Euglena. The search 'Euglena, TEM' will load transmission electron microscope images, and those are the most detailed images one can get but they are in thin-sections. You can also do an image search for 'Euglena model' to see models that have been made._________________Mark Sturtevant
Dept. of Still Waters